Human Resource Management Review 19 (2009) 1–8

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Human Resource Management Review j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / h u m r e s

Realistic recruitment practices in organizations: The potential benefits of generalized expectancy calibration
Brendan J. Morse ⁎, Paula M. Popovich
Ohio University, United States

a b s t r a c t
Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) have been studied by researchers and utilized by practitioners to attenuate early turnover by providing both positive and negative information about a job and organization to job applicants. Historically, RJPs have suffered from several criticisms including modest effect sizes, cost of …ver más…

The extent to which pre-employment expectations are met on the job (Porter & Steers, 1973) has been the most widely accepted explanation of the psychological processes underlying the RJP (Hom, Griffeth, Palich, & Bracker, 1998). However, some disagreement still exists regarding the processes it targets and the strength of the effects it supports (Phillips, 1998; Rynes & Cable, 2003). Another limitation deals with the assertion that the RJP literature has proliferated throughout the years without structural standardization (Breaugh & Billings, 1988), or content validation (Reilly et al., 1981). Finally, some debate still exists for the likelihood of an applicant self-selection effect (Bretz & Judge, 1998). In response to these specific criticisms of the RJP, Buckley, Fedor, Veres, Wiese, and Carraher (1998) developed the expectation lowering procedure (ELP) as an alternative tool for realistic recruitment. An ELP is a generalized pre-employment expectancy calibration tool that has several distinct benefits directly targeting limitations of the RJP. Early studies involving the ELP have demonstrated promising results for both its effectiveness in calibrating pre-employment expectations and its ability to overcome the shortcomings of the RJP (Buckley et al., 1998, 2002). The purpose of this review is to provide historical foundations of the RJP, and to elaborate on the persistent limitations of RJPbased realistic recruitment. We will also provide support